Fastener device



H. J. MORAN FASTENER DEV July 1954 Filed Oct. 8, 1951 v INVENTOR Harold J Moi-am ATTOR 1 Patented July 20, 1954 UNlTED STATE OFFICE FASTENER DEVICE Application Dctcber 8, 1951, Serial No. 250,339

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a separable fastener of the so-called zipper type which comprises essentially a plurality of interengageable scoops or teeth.

The invention has particularly to do with the securement together of the two interengaged series of scoops or teeth in such manner that they may easily be released for separation in the usual manner.

In separable fasteners of the above referred to type the scoops are usually secured to carriers such as fabric tapes and are secured together at one of their ends by a permanently attached retainer clip. A slider is mounted on the scoops to slide from end to end of the series and is so constructed and so cooperates with the scoops that when moved in one direction the scoops will be interlocked and when moved in another direction toward the retainer clip the scoops will be disengaged from each other.

This is the usual operation and requires the movement of the slides toward the retainer clip in order to release the scoops from each other.

However, under some circumstances of use of a separable fastener of the above referred to type, it is not practicable to move the slide from its position where it prevents the separation of the scoops to the opposite end of the series of scoops in order to release them.

The present invention is particularly related to the securement of the scoops together by a device which may be applied to the end of the series of scoops or indeed, optionally, to both ends.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the description progresses and it is thought that they need not here be outlined in detail.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of the invention;

Figure 2 is a similar view of another form thereof;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the first form of the invention with parts thereof broken away and shown in section; and

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view of the form of the invention disclosed in Figure 1.

Describing now the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, the

separable fastener comprises, as usual, two series of scoops l, each of which is carried by a flexible fabric tape 2. At one end of these series they are, in one use of the invention, secured together by a clip 3.

At the other end of the series of clips the tapes are provided With at least one pair of pins 4 which are secured to the adjacent edges of the tapes and form, in effect, extensions of the series of scoops. However, in many instances it is desirable to have a pinned edge of considerably greater extent than it is possible to have with only one pair of pins and so for that reason my invention contemplates the use of one or more pairs of pins, and I have shown in the drawings two pairs, the second pair being numbered 5. The reason for the edging of the type with a series of pairs when more than one pair to be used is so that the pairs will articulate as the usual zipper slide is moved from the ends of the scoops after they have been secured together by the operation of the slide.

In order to secure together the ends of the series of interengaged scoops so that the adjacent ends thereof may quickly be released and the scoops disengaged from each other thereafter bylaterally applied forces on the tapes, I have provided a removable retainer As shown in Figures 1, 3 and 4 of the drawings the form of the retainer there illustrated includes a pair of spacedtplates l and e which are secured together integrally or otherwise at 9, and are provided with side flanges it which are spaced from each other at H forming an open-ended receiving chamber l2. At the end 9 the retainer may be provided with an orifice for receiving an operating member to which may be attached a finger piece, cord or the like, or this end may itself be so formed as to provide in its own configuration an operating member.

The distance between the inside faces is of the flanges H] is substantially equal but slightly greater than the distances between the outside edges of the pins 4 and 5 so that when the pins are located within the retainer, as illustrated in Figure 3, they will be held against any substantial lateral separation.

The length of the chamber i2 is greater than the length of the pins, or when more than one pair is used the combined lengths of the pairs, with the result that when the retainer is slipped on to the pins it may be moved to a greater extent to house a suitable number of adjacent pairs of scoops.

Thus the mounting of the retainer in the manner illustrated in Figure 3 of the drawings will prevent the separation of the pins and of the scoops by forces applied laterally, and because of the fact that the retainer houses certain pairs of scoops this preventive action will be accomplished even though the forces, lateral or otherwise, are applied directly to the scoops.

However, when the retainer is withdrawn completely from the scoops and from the pins it is possible to apply lateral forces to the fastener and separate the scoops in the usual manner.

With this arrangement it of course is not necessary to move the slide from the ends of the series of scoops which are first separated toward the opposite ends because the lateral forces, once the retainer is removed, will accomplish the separation.

In Figure 2 of the drawings I have shown a somewhat modified form of the retainer wherein, instead of the cross section being substantially rectangular, it is substantially circular. Otherwise there is practically no difference between the forms. In both forms it will be realized that the elements of the retainer are so formed that the two plates will be substantially strengthened from end to end.

I have indicated the two plates in this form of Figure 2 by the reference numerals l and 8'. They are joined together at 9 and are provided with a chamber 12.

In operating the device of this invention the usual slide is applied at the end opposite the pins that I have described and moved to the other end of the series to cause the scoops to interengage in the usual manner, and it is then withdrawn over the pins and entirely from the fastener, leaving the scoops secured together. The clip is then applied at one end or if desired, at this end may be applied one of the retainers and at the other end a retainer is applied. In other words, one retainer may be used on one end and a clip on the other, or the series of scoops secured together at the clip end by means other than a clip. Thus the device may have a permanent securement at one end of the series and a removable retainer at the other end, or it may have a removable retainer at both ends.

While I have described the invention as of a particular form and of a particular application, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited except in so far as it is necessary to limit by the appended claim, as it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that numerous changes in details of configuration and construction may be made within the scope of and as suggested by this invention.

What I claim is:

In a separable fastener combination which comprises two series of interengageable scoops of the zipper type mounted on the adjacent edges of a sustaining flexible fabric and which are interengageable by means of a removable slider and an elongated end pin secured to each of said edges at one end of each of said series of scoops, the combination which comprises a retainer for preventing the separation of said scoops of said two series after said slider has caused the interengagement of the same and has been removed from the separable fastener, slidably mounted on said separable fastener and on said sustaining fabric and completely removable from one end of said fastener while said scoops are interengaged and said pins are substantially parallel, said retainer comprising a tube-lil e body having a chamber with an open end for the reception of said pins and scoops and housing said pins and scoops, the chamber length being at least equal to that of the pins and several pairs of scoops, said retainer being provided with means remote from said open end for limiting the penetration of said pins and scoops into said chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,115,369 Marinsky Apr. 26, 1938 2,217,571 Susskind Oct. 8, 1940 2,463,937 Austin Mar. 8, 1949 2,562,885 Poux Apr. 4, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 553,551 Great Britain of 1.943 

